1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tactile sensibility testing equipment useful for testing and/or training the visually handicapped persons for tactile sensibility.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A character learning equipment for the blind is disclosed in Japanese Official Gazette of Utility Model Patent No. Sho 48-18280. This prior art character learning equipment for the blind uses raised characters in hiragana type, katakana type, etc. Also, Japanese Official Gazette of Utility Model Patent No. Sho 54-40138 has disclosed a shape teaching equipment for the blind. In this equipment, animals and other objects are represented in a form of a relief pattern tangible to the blind.
These prior art equipments for the blind have been proposed to attain the same purpose. The purpose is to teach the visually handicapped persons the shapes of characters and objects as they are. Therefore, these teaching and learning equipments are unsuitable for synthetically examining the tactile sensibility of the visually handicapped.
On the other hand, reading equipments for the blind have been proposed and lately put to practical use. The reading equipment for the blind most widely accepted at present is of the type disclosed in Japanese Official Gazette of Patent No. Sho 54-38936. However, to get skilled in reading using a type of reading equipment, the visually handicapped person who wishes to enjoy the reading equipment has to be trained for keen tactual perception by finger. This is particularly true when he wishes to efficiently read complicated figures and characters by finger. For this purpose, it is essential to improve his tactual resolving power in every direction of taction. Such an improvement in tactile sensibility can be attained only by a particular training.